Live Review: Childish Gambino

Donny Glover aka Childish Gambino emerged to thunderous applause after a wave of synth and bass accompanied an impressive introductory light show. Chest out, Gambino strutted to centre stage in the same floral button-up he’d had on at Splendour in the Grass, and like in the videos that have emerged of his set he kept it on loosely, flailing it around his shoulders before flinging it into the crowd during The Oldest Computer (The Last Night).

Starting strong he played Crawl, The Worst Guys, Shadows and Sweatpants within the first 20 minutes, leaving himself with the difficult task of keeping energy sky high. As Glover was flying carelessly from one side of the stage to the other he looked as if he might run right off it, the live band provided a heavier, almost metal element to the bouncy synth-driven backing tracks that filled the Hordern Pavilion with a playful energy Glover took full advantage of.

3005 was the one everybody was waiting for, and he slipped it in earlier than expected. With the entire crowd singing the chorus and most of the verses back to him, Glover couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

After a brief stint off stage the band returned and dished up a massive medley that included Black Faces, All The Shine, Sunrise and Freaks And Geeks, which the crowd were calling for during the obligatory ‘go offstage to get the crowd pumped for the encore’ period.

The band members walked off again but were called back by a hungry crowd that wanted more. “We don’t have any more shit to perform, so we might just freestyle if that’s okay,” Glover said before laying down an explosive fast-paced freestyle that took aim at Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator and Drake to name a few. “I sing better, I rap better, I do better,” he spat in reference to Drake, in an unexpected cherry on the cake that left everyone in awe of Glover’s raw talent.